Crowdfunded camp gives Mumbai slum shot in the arm

MUMBAI: Unlike most others, Dilip Lokhande grinned while taking the jab at a one-day camp set up in Govandi's Shivaji Nagar slum on Friday. It meant he could finally resume work at a local pharmaceuticals company which did not take in employees that were not vaccinated against Covid-19. Lokhande was among the 152 beneficiaries-- all between 18 and 45 years of age-- who got the jab at the first vaccination camp inside a slum crowdfunded by private individuals.
Due to an erratic vaccine supply, the BMC discontinued shots for the 18-44 years category in public hospitals last month. Private hospitals have been administering shots to this age group. But their tie-ups have been limited to residential complexes and corporate offices so far. The camp in the Govandi slum was organised by a non-profit through crowdfunding raised by the Indian Graduate Student Association, a US-based Indian students' body.
"I was getting desperate for vaccine shots as I couldn't go to work and earn without them," said Lokhande, 33, a resident of Zakir Hussain Nagar. He had made umpteem rounds of hospitals looking for vaccines but was turned away every time. "I had been to the BKC Jumbo centre, Shatabdi Hospital in Govandi and even travelled upto Nerul to a hospital. But I was told I did not fit into the permitted age group for vaccination. It left me anxious as I'm the sole breadwinner," he said.
Besides being unable to afford vaccines in private hospitals, slum dwellers face the challenge of lack of digital literacy. Shehzad Ansari, who did not own a smartphone and couldn't register on the CoWin platform, landed up at the Govandi camp and waited for five hours till everyone was done so he could be registered by volunteers and then inoculated.
Then, there are myths among communities about the side-effects of vaccines. Non profit groups carried out awareness drives for a month before setting up the vaccination camp just to dispel fears among residents. "Everyone around had been scaring me about the side effects of the vaccine. They said I would fall ill or could even die. But I have not experienced a single side effect and I'm glad the volunteers convinced me to take the vaccine at the camp," said Vijayalakshmi Shukla, a Bainganwadi resident.
Young adults from the slum work largely as drivers, househelps, cabbies, security guards and do odd jobs in offices. They have been setting out since the city partially unlocked. "While we were setting up the vaccination camp, several curious onlookers gathered wanting to know if we were giving out food supplies," said Shievani Upadhyay of the Enrich Lives Foundation that organised the camp. "We gave out coupons and fixed time slots in advance for the beneficiaries. But our big learning was to have a printer on site. Many of these people do not have the resources to print out vaccination certificates later," said Upadhyay. The organisation had procured vaccine supplies from the Surana Sethia Hospital in Chembur and intend to reach out to more slums next.
"We are happy to be administering shots to the underprivileged who should have been prioritized," said Dr Prince Surana, CEO, Surana Sethia Hospital.
Meanwhile, Lokhande plans to register his wife online so she can take a jab the next time a camp is organised in Govandi while he looks after their two kids.